


Beautiful

by Higgles123



Category: Legend (2015)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-02-23 00:35:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23636185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higgles123/pseuds/Higgles123
Summary: Albie's sister is a right handful, but Reggie didn't realise that he also had other feelings for her
Relationships: Reginald "Reggie" Kray/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 16





	Beautiful

“Mr Kray, have you seen Albie anywhere?”

Reggie sighed and a cloud of smoke enveloped him as he met the worried eyes of the girl in front of him. He couldn’t remember her name but he recognised her face, and he was fairly certain he knew why she was so desperately in need of Albie.

“Nah he’s gone on an errand, darling,” Reggie answered, stubbing out his cigarette. “What do you need him for?”

“It’s Louise,” the girl grimaced and Reggie rolled his eyes as his suspicions were confirmed. “She’s arguing in the toilets with Mandy Stewart and you know what she’s like when she’s had a drink. Well, what both of them are like actually.”

And he did know, all too well. Louise Donoghue, the younger sister of Reggie’s right hand man, could often be found in the middle of an argument with somebody or other. Albie always said it was because she was a right gobby cow but Louise maintained that she just had opinions and wasn’t afraid to voice them.

Reggie heard Louise before he saw her, and the crowd that had gathered around the toilet entrance quickly dispersed when they noticed him approaching with that confident swagger he possessed. He had arrived just in time it seemed because as he walked through the door, he caught sight of Louise throwing a rather decent right hook at a girl that must have been Mandy Stewart and then all hell erupted. Hands were flying; screeches echoed around the room; hair was grabbed and yanked and freshly painted fingernails scratched at soft skin. Louise was like a woman possessed and even when Reggie had grabbed her firmly around the waist, she continued to flail and claw at his hands in an effort to escape his grasp and attack her opponent once more.

“I swear to fucking God I will rip that smug smile off your face you dirty cow!” she yelled, and Reggie didn’t need to see her face to know she had that death glare she wore so well.

“Listen sweetheart, it’s not my fault Tony chose me instead of you,” Mandy Steward retorted, feeling a lot braver now that Reggie had hold of Louise, even if she was like a rabid animal itching to get to her.

“He only chose you because you’re a slut and everyone knows it,” Louise spat angrily, still trying in vain to get Reggie’s hands from around her waist. “You’ve probably got the clap considering how many blokes you’ve been with.”

“Well at least I don’t have my legs shut together so tight that I could crack walnuts between them,” Mandy snorted. “Tony came to me love cos he wanted a woman that would actually do more than kiss him and let him fondle her tits.”

“Right that’s enough!” Reggie roared. “Martha or whatever your fucking name is, get outta my club and don’t come back. And the rest of you lot at the door can fuck off as well!”

Mandy looked like she was going to argue with Reggie for a moment but then had the sense to pick up the contents of her spilled handbag and trot out of the toilet with as much dignity as she could muster; which wasn’t really very much considering she had make up down her face and the beehive she had spent an hour teasing to perfection before she came out now resembled a bird’s nest that had fallen off a tree.

Once the crowd had disappeared, Reggie turned Louise around in his arms and eyed her face carefully. She was raging; that much he could see. Her eyes were glowering (at him?) and her teeth were clenched so tightly together he truly thought she was in danger of cracking them if she didn’t loosen up a little. She had a split lip and a nice claw mark down one side of her face and neck that was starting to ooze blood.

“Look at the bloody state of you,” he tutted. “What kind of behaviour do you think that is?”

“Oh fuck off, Reg,” she pulled a face. “Every one else might be scared of you but I’m not.”

“I know you’re not,” he chuckled. “But that don’t mean you’re not gonna shut your mouth and listen to what I’m about to say, cos if you don’t I’m gonna march you home to your mum and tell her all about this.”

Reggie smirked to himself when she shut her mouth and didn’t retort even though he could see she was desperate to. Mrs Donoghue was a right scary woman and even Reg was a little terrified of her. Despite the fact that now he was a fully grown man, the memory of the bollockings he got from her as a kid were enough to make him be on his best behaviour whenever he was around her.

“Right, sit down on the side of the sink and lets sort your face out,” Reggie ordered.

“I can sort out my own face,” Louise muttered, but she jumped up and sat on the side anyway. She knew there was no use arguing with Reggie, and she didn’t doubt that he would make good on his threat to tell her mother what she had been up to.

“Humour me, ok? And also, try and do something about your face, will you? You look like you’re sucking on a lemon and if the wind changes your face’ll be stuck like that forever.”

Louise just narrowed her hazel eyes at him and muttered something ineligible under her breath while Reggie wet some toilet tissue to clean her face with.

“So you gonna tell me what all that was about then?”

“Mind your own business,” she frowned, slapping his hand away when he started to wipe at the scratches on her neck. She snatched the tissue from his hand and did it herself.

“Well here’s an idea then, don’t make it my business by bringing it into my club then,” he eyed her drolly.

And then Louise did something that Reggie never would have expected in his entire life. She burst into tears. Actual gut wrenching tears. He looked around helplessly wishing someone, anyone, would suddenly appear and help him but he was very much alone with a crying female.

“Alright, I didn’t mean to make you cry, Louise,” he patted her shoulder awkwardly.

“It’s not you,” she sniffed, trying to stem the tears falling down her face. “It’s just that… well, you know what, you wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“No,” she shook her head. “It’s embarrassing and your Albie’s best friend so it’s just weird.”

“Listen love, everything about this situation is weird so I wouldn’t worry, and nothing you do or say can be embarrassing. After all, I’ve literally bathed with you when we were kids and everything, and I’m pretty certain you always used to piss in it.”

“And that’s supposed to make this less awkward?” she raised an eyebrow but he could see a hint of a smile behind her eyes.

“So what made you wanna rip Mandy whatever-her-names hair out then?” Reggie asked, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it while he waited for her to speak.

“She’s a skank,” Louise answered simply.

“Yeah, I heard the word slut mentioned but I think need a bit more information than that,” he grinned, taking a long drag on the cigarette. “I gather it’s also something to do with the fact that she slept with Tony somebody or other?”

Louise said nothing. She just took the cigarette from Reggie’s hand without even asking, and he watched as she put it it to her lips. She pulled a face and coughed as the smoke got stuck in the back of her throat. She handed the cigarette back with a grimace and just stared at the wall behind Reggie’s head. Reggie said nothing. He just waited for her to speak. Minutes passed and he had almost finished the cigarette when she eventually said something.

“I’m an idiot,” she muttered, her shoulders deflating as she chewed on her lip. She couldn’t even look at him. “I really thought he liked me; I thought maybe he was different from all the other blokes out there that are just after one thing. Turns out though he was only after it too, and when I didn’t give it to him he went looking for it somewhere else.”

“Sounds like he’s a waste of space then and you’re better off without him.”

“I know that. It’s just that… I’m twenty two years old, Reg and I’ve never even had one serious boyfriend let alone been close to getting married and having kids. Mum keeps telling me that if I don’t get a move on it’ll never happen, and I suppose I’m frightened she’s right. Every time I meet a bloke, it’s all lovely and we go on a few dates, then as soon as I don’t open my legs they scarper. And it’s not that I’m frigid or anything like that, but I just… God I can’t believe I’m talking about this with you. It’s just that I don’t wanna be like everyone else and just sleep around. I want it be with someone who means something because once it’s gone, I aint getting it back so I want it to go to the right person.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that,” Reggie swallowed. He should have felt uncomfortable talking about this with her but he didn’t. How could he? She was Louise. She’d been in his life for as long as he could remember and he had never once felt awkward around her so it seemed daft to start now.

“I really thought he was different.” she sighed. “We’ve been out together about seven or eight times and I liked him. I mean, he didn’t make my heart beat all giddy like they say it’s meant to but he was nice enough in his own way.”

“Nice enough that he slept with someone else when he was meant to be with you?” Reggie said.

“I don’t even know why I’m upset over someone who would treat me like that,” she admitted feeling utterly pathetic.

“You’re upset cos underneath that gobby front you always wear, you’re actually a sensitive soul,” Reggie said quietly. “And I know that because I’ve known you your entire life. I remember when we were kids and you made us have a funeral for your pet goldfish after the cat massacred him. You were heartbroken and you sobbed for days. In the end your old man bought you another goldfish to replace it but you gave it to me and Ronnie because, and I quote, ‘the pain was still too raw to even contemplate having the new fish’.”

“Yeah well I don’t know what my Dad was thinking,” Louise shrugged. “I couldn’t just replace Goldie with another fish because that would have been disrespectful to his memory, and all I could think about was the cat getting its claws into the new goldfish. I don’t think the house could cope with two murders in the space of a few weeks.”

Reggie couldn’t help it and he snorted loudly. At first Louise looked like she was going to berate him but then she burst out laughing herself. The two of them laughed and laughed until their sides hurt and eventually when their mirth died down, Reggie took Louise’s face in his hands and forced her to look at him.

“Listen to me, Louise Donoghue, you’re gonna find the right fella, don’t you worry. And when you do, he’ll make your heart go all giddy and he won’t care if he has to wait years to get into your knickers, because he’ll be with you for _you_ and not _that_. And he won’t even look at another girl, especially not a trollop like Mandy Stewart. Why would he when he’s got you? You’re beautiful.”

“You have to say that cos you’re my brother’s best mate,” she said, ignoring the strange fluttering in her stomach.

“It’s because I’m your brother’s best mate that I _shouldn’t_ really say that,” he smirked. “But I’ve got eyes in my head and I mean it when I say you’re beautiful.”

And she really was beautiful. He had always thought it but he had never really _felt_ it until that moment. Suddenly, in the quiet of the bathroom things changed somehow and Reggie knew he was going to spend the rest of his life making sure she knew just how beautiful she was every single day.

Well, starting from tomorrow because he had better talk to Albie first… and his future mother-in-law. The thought of being related to Mrs Donoghue made him almost cringe but then he looked at Louise’s face and decided she was worth it. Funny how he never thought about asking what she thought about being with him. There was one way to find out though. Leaning forward, he brushed his lips against hers, grinning when she kissed him back without hesitation. He half expected her to smack him in the face for being so forward but she did nothing more than wind her arms around his neck and pull him closer.

And just like that there was no going back; not for either of them.


End file.
